Five Easy Pieces

LARCH 414-03 | Tuesday Thursday 1:25 - 5:30 | Peter Stempel

Course Description:

Coastal communities face problems like vulnerability to sea level rise. They also have incredible opportunities, such burgeoning shellfish aquaculture and tourism industries made possible by the improving ecological health of some estuaries. Equitably addressing climate adaptation and accommodating diverse uses while improving ecological function invariably involves difficult trade-offs between stakeholder priorities. This studio asks students to address a series of rapid vignettes that prioritize different objectives. Each problem is designed to be “easy” in the sense that there is a clear priority around which to design. This further supports the learning of specific skills and knowledge. The final studio segment is a synthesis based on one of the student’s preceding designs. This will allow students to consciously make and discuss their ethical choices while exploring coastal ecology and developing their skills as designers.

This studio will use a current research site in Southern New England, giving us access to advanced coastal modeling and other research outputs. As this research is ongoing, aspects of the studio are subject to alteration due to changing stakeholder priorities. Preliminary discussions have centered on using the studio’s work to understand proposed “nature-based” adaptation in context. Although there is a great deal of excitement about nature-based solutions, experts are concerned that the public perception of these solutions involves magical thinking. Moreover, scientific modeling is showing us that the form of these solutions may be more highly constrained by the ways that water and sediment move than many people assume. Our work is thus likely to center around exploring the very real implications of these approaches. By better understanding how these solutions, we can contribute to real-world conversations about research prioritization and even funding of experimental installations.

It is currently unclear whether travel will be possible in the spring. If we cannot visit the site, we will use resources such as the IEL and other tools to visit virtually. Please see this page for any future updates.

Flyer Text:

Coastal communities face challenges like vulnerability of the tax base to sea level rise. They also have opportunities such burgeoning shellfish aquaculture made possible by the improving ecological health of some estuaries. Equitably adapting to climate change and accommodating diverse uses while maintaining or improving ecological function invariably involves difficult tradeoffs. This studio engages students in exploring these tradeoffs through a series of vignettes examining adaptation in a real-world context. Student learning will be supported by engaging with outside experts doing advanced research on topics such as submerged breakwaters and dune restoration. The vignette studio format is designed to promote effective iterative design processes.